The Art of Scientific Presentation Samuel B. Silverstein Department of Physics Stockholm University The Art of Scientific Presentation 1
Fallacy 1: Scientific presentations should primarily present information Inform: Persuade: Describe your work. Is it an interesting Show the results and worthwhile you obtained question? Was it a valid test? Are the results accurate? Significant? The Art of Scientific Presentation 2
Fallacy 2: �Talks are like papers, except you present them out loud� My My Research Research Proceedings The Art of Scientific Presentation 3
Fact: presentations differ from papers in some very fundamental ways! Paper: Reader sets own pace Can skip around in text Can look up references Presentation: audience Audience has limited has one attention span chance to hear Can’t re-read text The Art of Scientific Presentation 4
Presentations have some advantages Use sights and sounds to bring work to life! Instant feedback Can adjust presentation C A ! ! ? ? B D C The Art of Scientific Presentation 5
An effective presentation depends on three important aspects of style Visuals and Structure Props Delivery The Art of Scientific Presentation 6
The structure of a presentation is strongly influenced by your constraints Audience Formality (multiple?) (questions during or after talk?) Structure Format Politics (time limits, (Hostile time of day, or friendly facilities) audience?) The Art of Scientific Presentation 7
Presentations should have clear beginnings, middles, and endings B e E g n i d Middle n i n n i g n g The Art of Scientific Presentation 8
Beginnings prepare the audience for the work you are presenting Define work Show importance Define work Show importance Work = A + B Give background Map presentation Give background Map presentation A B C D The Art of Scientific Presentation 9
The middle presents the work in a logical order The Art of Scientific Presentation 10
In the middle, make smooth transitions between major points Pre-combustion Combustion methods methods Post-combustion Combustion methods methods The Art of Scientific Presentation 11
The ending summarizes main points, and places them in the big picture point 5 point 1 point 6 point 2 point 7 point 3 point 8 point 4 point 1 point 7 Summary Big picture The Art of Scientific Presentation 12
Visuals reflect the structure of the presentation overall ending perspective, summary logical order, middle transitions scope, 1 visual = importance, beginning background, ~1 to 1.5 minutes mapping The Art of Scientific Presentation 13
Visuals serve the presentation in several ways ¥ Notes for audience during presentation ¥ Notes for audience after presentation ¥ Notes for speaker(s) before and during presentation The Art of Scientific Presentation 14
Well-designed visuals help the audience remember more of your presentation Hear See Hear & See 60 10 20 30 40 50 Recall (%) The Art of Scientific Presentation 15
You must make certain decisions when designing visuals What format? Included What information? Excluded The Art of Scientific Presentation 16
Headline/body format orients the audience Use a headline that concisely states Headline the idea of the visual words Body supports words with words words Body Body supports with images The Art of Scientific Presentation 17
Use strong headlines! ¥ Orient the audience ¥ Help define presentation�s structure ¥ Help keep speaker on track The Art of Scientific Presentation 18
The body supports the headline with words and images Supports with words clear familiar concise Supports with images The Art of Scientific Presentation 19
Use large, legible type Arial Clear typeface: BOOK ANTIQUA 12 point 14 point 18 point Large type 24 point (18-36 point) 28 point 36 point 40 point The Art of Scientific Presentation 20
Avoid clutter words words words words words words words words The Art of Scientific Presentation 21
Select body material that effectively supports your headlines Mars has two moons Images The world is warming 1998 1997 Six warmest 1995 years of the Results 1990 20 th century 1999 1991 The Art of Scientific Presentation 22
Include visuals that show organization Introduction Title Beginning 1. Topic A Topic A 2. Topic B Topic B Topic A Topic B Middle A B Conclusion Summary Ending of A and B The Art of Scientific Presentation 23
Layout of Test beam System TileCal Drawer TileCal Drawer SLink Fibre TTC Fibre Beam Crate T S T S R R T L R R T L VME I I C i I I C i Laser Crate v n O O Laser Crate v n O O i k i k Slink ROD Crate Fibres Note: 3in1 also uses CANbus S S R L R L I i Workstation I i ROB Crate n O n O k k The Art of Scientific Presentation 24
Step 1: Configure 3in1 and digitizer systems via TTCvi TileCal Drawer TileCal Drawer Configuration commands Beam Crate T T R T R T I C VME I C Laser Crate v O Laser Crate v O i i To 3in1: Enable CIS, select capacitor, charge setting, etc. To Digitizer: Read out Low and High gain, set number of readout samples, set pipleline length, etc. All systems configured by Beam Crate using TTC (+ CAN?) The Art of Scientific Presentation 25
Step 2: Fire CIS pulse and read out digitizer data L1A fires CIS pulse and starts TileCal Drawer TileCal Drawer readout Digitizer data Beam Crate T S T S R R T L R R T L I I C i VME I I C i Laser Crate v n O O Laser Crate v n O O i k i k ROD Crate The Art of Scientific Presentation 26
Step 3: Transfer event data to the event builder (ROB crate) Beam Crate ROD Crate T S T S R R T L R R T L VME I I C i I I C i v n O O v n O O i k i k Bunch crossing ID Digitizer Output and configuration info S S R L R L I i I i ROB Crate n O n O k k The Art of Scientific Presentation 27
Step 4: Transfer data to workstation for offline analysis S S R L R L I i Workstation I i ROB Crate n O n O k k The Art of Scientific Presentation 28
Don�t include information the audience doesn�t need or can�t remember Filler information Complex math Roentgen discovered x-rays 2 in 1895. He found that a (x +2) ln x cathode-ray tube produced fluorescence in a distant plati- 2 2 (x + 1) (x-1) num-barium-cyanide screen. Long lists Complex images • Corrosion • Acid rain DEAR- ATOR • Toxic materials HOT • Pulsed combustion WELL • Energetic materials RGF B A • Pyrogenic materials • Smog The Art of Scientific Presentation 29
An effective delivery conveys your message to the audience ¥ Language – Familiar – Precise – Concise – Tone ¥ Performance The Art of Scientific Presentation 30
You have several choices for delivering your speech Read from a text Memorize the speech + allows eye contact + ensures precision - difficult for long speeches - doesn’t sound natural - room for precision errors - no room to improvise - no room for improvising - hinders eye contact Speak from visuals/notes “Wing it” + sounds natural + insures organization - much room for error + allows eye contact + allows improvising - some room for error The Art of Scientific Presentation 31
Prepare strong wording to emphasize strong points or transitions ¥ Beginnings — OK: �My name is _____ and I will be talking about�� — Better: �One question which has come up more than once during this conference is: �Now that the top quark has been found, what kind of physics can we do with it?�� ¥ Middles — �That concludes what I have to say about cross sections. I will now discuss�� ¥ Endings — �To summarize, I would like to show you this table of ...� The Art of Scientific Presentation 32
An important part of delivery is your interaction with the audience Voice Movements Stage Presence The Art of Scientific Presentation 33
An effective presentation depends on three important aspects of style Visuals and Structure Props Delivery The Art of Scientific Presentation 34
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